Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is here, ready to enter the Nintendo Switch of all JRPG fans. The combat system of the game is totally revolutionized compared to the first two chapters (counting the spinoff Xenoblade Chronicles X for WiiU) and also quite complex. The game will fill you with tutorials, often one after the other, and it's easy to miss something about some particular feature. This guide is designed to help you gain a better understanding of the combat system, but also to give you some advice on how to prepare your characters for the exploits that await them in the world of Alrest.
Driver and Gladius
The first thing to know about Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is that there will be two different types of characters on the screen: the Drivers and the Gladius. The Drivers are the characters that can be controlled by the player while the Gladius are the weapons, which have their own human or animal materialization. You can control only one Driver, the others will be entrusted to AI who will make them perform the various skills they have.
Each Driver can equip 2 or 3 Gladius based on game progress. These Gladius possess 3 characteristics: a degree of rarity, an element and a role. It will be possible for the Driver to switch between the various Gladius equipped to him at any time during the battle. However, there is a limitation to these exchanges: each Gladius will have a gauge that will fill up over time, and it will be possible to equip a Gladius only when its gauge is full. The bar empties when you change Gladius again. These characters, although present on the screen, will be immortal and invisible to enemies.
Gladius are randomly acquired through crystals, a rare enemy drop, or a treasure in a chest. The rarity of what will come out of the crystal is determined by pure RNG, but having a higher value of the Luck stat increases the chance of finding rare Gladius.
Choosing which Gladius to equip the various characters is the most important step in preparing for battle as the Drivers' stats are heavily influenced by the Gladius they equip.
As mentioned before, there are Gladius in different roles: Healers, Defenders and Attackers. Equipping your Drivers to give everyone all 3 roles is useless if not counterproductive, since the AI of the characters is programmed to fulfill only one role from the beginning. It is therefore advisable to equip Nia with 3 healing Gladius, Rex and Zeke with 3 attacking Gladius, and Morag with 3 Defender Gladius.
Party Understanding Bar
In the upper left corner is a Party Understanding bar. This fills up by damaging enemies and performing advanced attacks. The bar is divided into three sections: using one section you can bring an ally back to life. With all three sections of the charged bar you can unleash a very powerful charged attack.
Auto Attacks
When you are close to the enemies the Drivers will automatically attack them. The only element necessary for this to happen is proximity to the enemy. Auto-attacks are important because they allow you to load Techniques.
Techniques
Techniques can be direct attacks, defensive spells, or healing spells, each of which has a secondary effect described under the name of the technique.
Techniques vary based on the Gladius equipped and the type of weapon this Gladius is. So it is possible to have two Gladius that offer the same Techniques because they are the same type of weapon. Each weapon offers 4 techniques of which only 3 can be equipped.
Using Techniques fills the special attack bar, if a technique is used with timing chaining it to the auto attacks it will do more damage and further fill the special attack bar.
Special Attacks
Special attacks are techniques that will require you to perform small quick time events to deal additional damage. There are 4 levels of Special Attacks: the first 3 levels are available by loading the appropriate bar up to the corresponding number; level 4 attacks will be available when, in addition to having a charged level 3 attack, the thread that binds Gladius and Driver will be golden. In addition to damage, special attacks inflict elemental status on the enemy that will last 20 or 30 seconds, or longer if the enemy is sapped or knocked down while the altered status is active.
Although the companions are commanded by the AI it will be possible to order them when to perform the special moves, this is because it is possible to create Combo called Combo Gladius
Combo gladius
After activating a special attack and inflicting its negative status on the enemy, a list will appear at the top right showing the items needed to initiate Gladius combos. To perform a Gladius combo it will be necessary to charge a special attack of a higher rank than the one performed previously and of an element compatible with the first elemental status.
These combos not only do substantial damage but the last combo (the level 3 one) will leave a sphere of the Gladius element on an enemy that has finished the combo.
This sphere has two functions: the first is to increase the party's defense from a specific altered status that varies according to the element, described by the sphere itself in the list of Gladius combos at the top right; the second is to deal additional damage via Chain attacks
Chain attachments
When the party's understanding gauge is full, a chained attack can be launched. During the chain attack it will be possible to control the whole party and launch powerful attacks with the Gladius at their disposal. These attacks do a lot of damage but if you have previously performed Gladius combos you can do more.
The spheres that orbit the enemy following a complete Gladius combo act as bombs, which can be detonated by attacking them with a Gladius of the opposite element. Their explosion not only deals massive damage to the enemy but allows the chain attack to be immediately repeated with more powerful attacks.
So it is necessary not only to have Gladius of specific party roles, but also of opposite elements to be able to inflict as much damage as possible during these attacks.
► Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is an Adventure-JRPG game developed by Monolith Soft and published by Nintendo for Nintendo Switch, the video game was released on 01/12/2017
Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is a game to own at all costs: we decided to evaluate it with a 93%, if you are interested in learning more you can read the Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Review
